Christmas 2015

I have to say that Christmas this year seemed especially relaxing.  I made sure the downstairs was spotless on Christmas Eve so that we could just focus on the celebration and not feel too stressed.  It worked!

We kept to our tradition of letting the kids open a gift each day for a week leading up to Christmas, and then the rest were opened on Christmas morning.  They love getting to choose a gift each day, and I love that each gift gets a full 24 hours of appreciation before moving on to the next surprise.  They seem to more fully enjoy their new goodies this way.

On Christmas Eve, I picked up a platter of delicious smoked turkey and cheese croissants from Kroger, a bagged bacon cheddar house salad, and a cantaloupe for dinner, and there was no mess to clean up.  Then we picked up my dear friend, Micka, and we shared a pot of honeybush tea and Cadbury treats as we drove around with Haylee and Holden looking at Christmas lights around the area.  We even took Teenie, our little dog!  She had a good time, too.  Hayden stayed home playing video games (fuddy duddy), and Steve stayed home to wrap my gifts (he always shops at the last minute, LOL).  We had a wonderful time!  I just love the stillness of Christmas Eve.  I always feel like we’re the only ones out on the road.  It’s so peaceful!

On Christmas morning, we gathered around for the opening of gifts, tossed the wrapping paper in an awaiting trash can, and went on to have a lovely Christmas brunch.  We had sausage links, bacon, fluffy biscuits with butter and apricot jam, French toast sticks, omelet with Black Forest ham and cheese, hashrowns O’Brien, and a platter of fresh fruit like cantaloupe, sliced bananas, Cara Cara navel oranges, and strawberries.  Yum!

I loaded up the dishwasher right after we ate to restore my clean kitchen, and then I felt ready to relax.  I didn’t feel the usual compulsion to pull down my Christmas tree right away.  Instead, I grabbed my new plush faux fur blanket from Steve and curled up on the couch.  That blanket was so soft and warm that I fell asleep in no time! 

After about a 2-hour nap, I got up and fixed dinner.  I cooked a 5.5-lb. pork shoulder in my rotisserie, some sweet corn, some steamed baby potatoes with butter, and some crusty French bread.  Delicious, and the house smelled so good!

Then we all gathered around the Christmas tree for our annual photos.  Hayden got a really nice camera from our friends at church last year, so he did the honor of taking the photos.  He even set it up on a bar stool with a timer so we could all get in the shot.  It was such a lovely day!  I gathered up the kids’ things into small boxes and took them up to their rooms, and I decided I’d take down the tree on Saturday, which worked out great.  I even had time on Saturday to sit and knit a new project while watching tv.  I made a neck warmer for myself, and I love it!

Now it’s time for the next celebration!  Today is Holden’s 8th birthday!  I can hardly believe that many years have passed by already.  I sure do miss his being a little guy.  He’s getting so big now.  It won’t be long, and he’ll catch up to Haylee’s height.  So now I need to go bake him a cake.  We recently took him to see the new Star Wars movie…his first one…so I got a Star Wars bag and filled it with Star Wars-related goodies for his birthday gift…Darth Vader blanket sleeper pjs, a Darth Vader cape and mask, a red light-saber, a Darth Vader backpack, a Kilo Ren wallet, etc.  I think he’s gonna love it!

Now its on to the new year soon enough.  In fact, my birthday is New Year’s Day, then Steve’s is Jan. 7th, and Holden’s party is Jan. 9th.  It’s a miracle we don’t gain 10 pounds this time of year with all these back-to-back celebrations!  LOL

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas celebration this year, and may the new year be a blessing to you and yours.